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Hey Marvoloush! Did you join our super awesome group on facebook???😎 By the way, read this newsletter from the dean...
Im excited to share that we have filled the charter class of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine in El Paso. These 40 students, selected from over 2500 applicants, include 36 students from Texas who were highly ranked by the Admissions Committee, including nine from El Paso. Also highly ranked are four students from out-of-state. On February 1, 2009, the Texas Medical and Dental School Application Service publicly released the results of the student match with the TTUHSC Paul L. Foster School of Medicine. The first class will begin its medical studies on July 9, 2009.
These students undergraduate universities include Texas Tech, University of Texas (Austin, El Paso, San Antonio, Dallas, Arlington, Brownsville, Permian Basin), Sul Ross, the University of Houston, University of Michigan, Rensselaear, Princeton, Baylor, Emory, Rice, Johns Hopkins and Harvard.
Congratulations to our future students and kudos to the Admissions Committee, which did an outstanding job of selecting these candidates. And thank you to the generous donors in our region who have provided many in our charter class with scholarships.
Im excited! We have a real diverse and bright group coming from all over the country.👍
Taken from http://www.statestats.com/cit07pop.htm
This is for 2009 WITH the consideration of the Juarez crimes.👍
CITIES OF 500,000 OR MORE POPULATION: (32 cities)
Safest 10:
1San Jose, CA
2Honolulu, HI
3El Paso, TX
4New York, NY
5Austin, TX
6San Diego, CA
7San Antonio, TX
8Louisville, KY
9Fort Worth, TX
10Jacksonville, FL
How about them apples?😀
Im telling you guys not to worry! Yes, Juarez is a dangerous city but it only stays deep in there. I go downtown at least 3 times a week and at night! The area where I like to listen to jazz and go to lounges is about 4 blocks from one of the bridges and NOTHING has happened and ever does happen. Just relax.😎
ok so a few might think i'm ignorant but i'm personally not too worried about the proximity to Juarez. i hear Baltimore, MD is not the safest place in the world either, yet that's where Hopkins is. every city has its crimes. the news is always going to report about people getting shanked and what not and the reality is that it does happen (even ships out in the middle of the freaking ocean get attacked by pirates!). but the other part of reality is that there are many people born and raised in El Paso without running into any trouble. Juarez or no Juarez, crime or no crime, life goes on. just carry pepper spray, a tazer and a knife around and you'll be good 😛....jk (not kidding about the pepper spray though ladies 🙂). and plus we have the lovely Fort Bliss to protect us 😉 at the end of the day it's all about becoming a doctor and if it's becoming a doctor in as bad as a city as some think it is, then, hey, at least we'll see the interesting cases. and if you're personally worried about El Paso getting held hostage by Juarez, then you can choose not to go and it'll be fine and dandy with everyone else.
I agree Marvolush!! By the way I can personally comment on Hopkins. I spent two summers there as a Howard Hughes fellow. I lived in the dorms but 2 blocks from where I lived there was a corner where prostitutes would hang out every night, no joke! Plus, there are frequent muggings in the area. I can definitely promise this, El Paso is much safer than San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, and especially Houston! Ft. Bliss is right there which will immediately intervene.
Most importantly, if you are so strung out on being in a "safe" area, than you will miss out on many, many great hospitals that are in the worst areas helping the most vulnerable of our populations, such as Thomason Hospital. Here's a list of my top 4 city hospitals that happen to be in HORRIBLE places: Kings County in Brooklyn, Cook County in Chicago, Bellevue in NYC, and L.A. General.
Like Marvolush said, at the end of the day it's about being a doctor. I hope that I will be able to travel into really dangerous and helpless areas to give my time and skills to help better other peoples lives. Isnt that why we are all going into medicine in the first place?
Lastly, also quoting Marvolush, if you're so worried about this town than just dont come and decline the offer.
Ive NEVER had a single problem and I go out a lot! Especially since I have the year off. Those of you coming here will see how nice everyone is and how easy going people are.
Last note (not mentioning who) If you're not going to attend Foster please stick to your own posts. Im sure that there are plenty of concerns that you need to address and discuss regarding your own schools. If you know who I am talking about please continue to ignore that person.![]()
thanks for the contribution about El Paso, MinerMD2013, TexasPhysician and MrBlonde!
d1ony5u5 - okay so what i'm going to tell you are things i've heard here and there, but i'm not sure if it is 100% true. anybody please correct me if i'm wrong!
the school is definitely going to expand their class size. they're starting out with 40 this year, 60 next year and 100 the year after that (i think i have the numbers right). i'm not sure what the cut off will be but their facilities can accomodate a good amount of students for sure.
i think every Texas school reserves 10% of its slots for OOS. you never know how you'll do until you try! there are many many surprises during this whole application process.
remember that Texas has its own application (TMDSAS - http://www.tmdsas.com) and it is a bit tedious to fill out. personally, i found that filling out the TMDSAS first made AMCAS and AACOMAS much easier and quicker to fill out.
if you have anymore questions, just ask away! i hope i've helped. best of luck! don't give up! 👍
Yeah I have to chime in, I have no axe to grind (unlike some people here it seems) or favors to pay (I'm not going to go there for med school) so I hope this may help allay those with lingering doubts about El Paso. I grew in El Paso and went to college there (I'm doing a research fellowship elsewhere) and have to say that El Paso and Juarez might be but a few steps apart, distance-wise, they are a world of difference apart in every other conceivable facet of life. Mexico is a third-world country, with plenty problems, but what many people (especially the people who have never lived in El Paso 👎) don't know is that those problems really do stay on that side of the border. The people warring are not stupid people (street smarts-wise) they know that if anything slips to the other side of the border, they will have to deal with the sledgehammer known as the US government, it behooves them to keep it in Juarez. Really all that is being made is very much ado... or chicken little... you get the picture.
Furthermore, I would have to say that El Paso is truly safe city in its own right. It is moderately sized city so it doesn't have the crime "pitfalls" that come from living in a big city (I'm doing research in big city now had my car broken into twice😡). Even the economically-depressed areas that I know most of the new med students will avoid like the plague, (like the lower valley, central, northeast) are full people just trying to make a decent life for themselves and to the chagrin of some people, have very little crime. I'm not sure if MinerMD feels the same but all this attention paid for the apparent lack of safety in El Paso is the pinnacle of absurdity.
One last point, I have say to that I envy the students going to Foster this coming year. It still shocks me the level of rudeness I experience as I travel to other parts of the country, "shockness", I now attribute to being spoiled by my time in El Paso. I truly realize that the people from there are just the most generous, warm, accepting and down-to-earth people I had the privilege of meeting. Good Luck guys and try the Mexican food while your there it is the best in the country!
Check out another great opportunity coming to Foster soon. 😀
http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_11786922
Hey guys,
I'd just like to say hello to all my future classmates and try to get a discussion going again. It seems like this thread is dominated by a "El paso is going to burn because of its proximity to Mexico" posts, the subtext of which is almost certainly "my medical school is better than yours."
The two issues seem to be its youth and the current Mexican drug war. As for youth, people raised, literally, the exact same questions with A&M's initial class during the late 1970's (A&M is the next youngest medical school in texas). Is it going to survive? Will the funding continue? My parents are good friends with one of their initial class members, which had a size of 37 or 38, similar to Foster now, and A&M is currently going strong.
As for the drug war, I'll admit that the situation is bleak in Mexico, especially in the broader context of the worldwide recession. On the other hand, given how the violence is killing tourism, representing almost 10% of Mexico's GDP, the war will die down eventually. And come on, admit it, you guys want to be able to vacation again in Cancun as well. In the meantime, us kids in El Paso will just have to settle with the excellent pathology and trauma cases that will be streaming across the border. I can't think of a better place to train cool headed, bilingual and culturally adept doctors.
Anyways, have you guys received your class packets yet? What do you think about the requirement of a PDA (ipaq 110)? I have working friends that have PDA's and never use them. In my opinion laptops are infinitely more useful.
I just got in off the waitlist today!!! So excited to be joining you guys!!!
Welcome krismichelle,
I know that we were all rooting for you to get in somewhere. My girlfriend flipped out when I told her. I think she gets more emotionally involved in this stuff than I do. We have a Foster Facebook group, in case you haven't found it yet. Congratulations and I can't wait for classes to start.
May 1, only a couple more months.
YAY!!!!
Hi, I am a female incoming intern who is doing a transitional year at el paso and was wondering if anyone wanted a roommate and we could split a 2bed/2bath condo. Let me know if you are looking for a roommate. I would prefer a female.